A lot of people are bound to have a problem with Andray Blatche, who does not have Filipino roots, possibly playing for the Philippines in this summer’s upcoming FIBA World Cup of Basketball.

Don’t count me as one of those people, however.

After being presented with the idea to compete by figures within the Philippines’ international basketball program, the Brooklyn Nets‘ reserve center was all for it.

“I’m interested, so there’s a good chance of it happening,” Blatche said the other day. “So I’m looking at it from a standpoint where I can go somewhere I’ve never been before, and it’s an early head start to get ready for the season.”

It’s pretty difficult to have a problem with legitimate reasons like those. The man wants to see another part of the world and use the opportunity to better prepare him for the next season of his career instead of laying on a couch for most of the summer like he could easily choose to do.

So what if he has to be naturalized as a Filipino citizen to make it happen? The bottom line is that this is a guy who loves playing basketball and is willing to do it for free for the benefit of not only himself, but a nation that isn’t usually relevant in international basketball affairs.

Plus, this would only give him the chance to play against some of the best young players the rest of the world outside of the NBA has to offer. And that doesn’t happen every day.

Good for Blatche. Hopefully things do work out with him and the Filipino World Cup of Basketball team.

Mike B. Ruiz is a Brooklyn Nets writer for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikebruiz and “Like” him on Facebook.